The European Public Prosecutor’s Office conducted eight searches in Galați County on Wednesday in a case involving a €1.7 million fraud related to irrigation systems funded by the EU.
„The case involves an agricultural cooperative that obtained funding for two irrigation system modernization projects, worth €1.7 million (8.6 million lei).
However, according to the investigation, the public procurement procedure for selecting a company to carry out the projects was manipulated to favor a predetermined company owned by the mother of one of the cooperative members," the European Prosecutor's Office stated.
The legal representatives of the cooperative and the selected company presented false documents attesting that the beneficiary of the funds was not in a conflict of interest with the company to which the contract was awarded, thus misleading the Romanian Agency for Rural Investment Financing (AFIR).
"During today's searches, some of the individuals under investigation were brought to the EPPO headquarters in Iași to be informed of their suspect status.
Three of the suspects have been placed under judicial control for 60 days, with a prohibition on contacting other parties in the process, as well as the obligation to periodically report to the police station near their residence," the European prosecutors further stated.
To recover the damage caused to the EU budget and any legal expenses, the European prosecutors have confiscated six plots of land (worth approximately €500,000) and frozen the suspects' bank accounts.